Wellness At Home: Self-Care Amenities To Incorporate Into Luxury Properties
/SOURCE: Sotheby’s
A home is meant to be where you feel the most comfortable and comforted, the most cared for and carefree. Put simply, your home is where you should feel the most at home—so there’s something inherently paradoxical if you have to leave it in order to access the wellness amenities that enable you to feel your best.
For luxury buyers, it’s imperative that wellness features be found on the property, whether through the world-class facilities offered in an upmarket condo development or the top-of-the-line amenities provided in stand-alone homes.
From classic spa bathrooms with clawfoot tubs and rain head showers, to futuristic health- and mood-boosting installations such as infrared saunas, luxury home amenities span a wide range and are suited to different purposes. But these four categories are increasingly in-demand by the most discerning wellness real estate clientele.
Fitness Centers Equipped for Elite Athletes
Self-care home ideas often begin with the perfect gym experience. State-of-the-art technology, no queues or crowds competing with you for weights and machines, and floor-to-ceiling windows so you can admire a swath of sunny, stunning scenery while you exercise. It sounds like you would need an exclusive and expensive membership for such a place, but some properties come with them built in.
In many cases, these are luxury condos with shared amenities for residents. However, on rare occasions—such as Dubai’s famous Palm Jumeirah—facilities of the highest caliber are fashioned for singular homes or apartments.
Spa Spaces for Restoration and Relaxation
If you were to imagine the ideal spa getaway, the location would be just as important as the features and services. Breathtaking beach panoramas that inspire a sense of serenity and calm, triple-glazed west-facing windows to guarantee flawless climate control and fabulous sunsets, and perhaps a prized location perched atop a seaside bluff, with terraces carved into the natural stone.
This could easily describe a dream boutique hotel. But for a lucky few, such tranquility can be found in their residence—with home spa features that include hydrotherapy baths, cold plunges, and saunas, outfitted with thoughtful touches such as underfloor heating and cooling systems beneath fine finishes of organic wood and stone.
Areas Made for Mindfulness and Meditation
While high-end wellness trends may change over time, what remains consistent is that they’re both a state of being and a state of mind—and more than ever, the need for mental health is even more prominent than physical health. Having luxury wellness spaces in the home to rejuvenate the spirit is as essential as having places to heal the body.
Tranquil gardens and ample green spaces filled with a variety of vegetation are highly valued. So too are natural light, fresh and fragrant air, open skies, and gorgeous views. Tasteful décor of materials such as teak and rattan, along with neutral and natural fabrics, create seamless continuity with the outdoors.
But more than anything, peace and privacy are paramount for meditation, and properties optimized for such practices should have spacious grounds, multiple patios, and secluded pavilions where homeowners and guests can find solace when needed.
Kitchens Catering to Healthy, Holistic Living
Healthy eating is foundational to healthy living, and one of the most sought-after home wellness features in luxury real estate is the type of kitchen gourmet chefs fantasize about.
That means the types of appliances showcased in only the most illustrious architecture and design catalogs, along with refined, streamlined storage that can be both ubiquitous and unobtrusive. But it also means spacious surfaces for food preparation, and capacious pantries and refrigerators to house all the greatest ingredients.
It also means clement weather and easy internal-external connectivity, so that organic herbs and spices can be grown at home. And of course, it demands diverse serving and dining areas, to ensure meals aren’t just made to the highest standard, but enjoyed to the highest standard as well.
You shouldn’t have to leave your home to seek a self-care sanctuary. At the high end of the real estate market, wellness features and self-care amenities are increasingly indistinguishable from what you would find at a sophisticated five-star retreat—except now your refuge can be your rooftop, your ensuite, your basement, or your balcony. Homes such as these are redefining what wellness at home entails.
SOURCE: Sotheby’s
